Many Connecticut residents and business operators have demanded information about how the state awards millions of dollars in tax breaks, grants and loans to companies, hoping to lure them to the state or dissuade them from leaving, and state Comptroller Kevin Lembo is optimistic that a bill in the General Assembly will quell their concerns.

Lembo told 20 members of the Business Council of Fairfield County on Thursday morning that the bill was designed to develop an online tax credit database that could be accessed by the general public.

House Bill 6566 has gone through changes to satisfy concerns of legislators, government officials and the business community, he said, but remains viable.

"To no one's surprise, people's hair caught on fire quickly. We gave up some ground to get it out of the Finance Committee. We wanted to make a bill as good as possible without it becoming meaningless," Lembo said.

Should the bill pass, he said, it will provide legislators with data that they can refer to in future legislation.

"As a state, we provide hundreds of millions in business assistance every year -- in the form of loans, grants, tax abatements. In this environment, we must make every effort to ensure that the dollars we invest to generate economic output are well spent -- and I believe this legislation achieves that," Lembo said in a release following the Finance Committee's vote.

Just last week, Cannondale, the high-end bicycle company based in Bethel, received a $3 million low-interest loan from the state to move to Wilton instead of New York. Earlier this month, NewOak Capital inked a deal for the same amount for its move from New York to the Matrix office complex in Danbury as part of Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's Next Five program.

The biggest package of incentives in 2012 totaled $115 million for Bridgewater Associates when it was announced in August that it planned to remain in the state and move from Westport to Stamford. UBS, the Swiss banking giant that has its North American headquarters in Stamford, also received a big incentive package to keep jobs in the state, while NBC Sports received a $20 million deal to move to Stamford from New York.

Joseph McGee, vice president of public policy for the Business Council, said he supports the bill, but he understands why companies that receive tax credits would be concerned about revealing too much information about their business.

"He (Lembo) is talking about tax credits. There is a line -- what needs to be protected and what is negotiable. Grants and loans are very clear," McGee said. "You need to know what the tax credits are so you get a complete idea of what the state is investing," said McGee, the state's former commissioner of economic development and former chairman of the Connecticut Development Authority.

Connecticut needs to provide incentives to companies because it is in stiff competition with other states, said Nora Vaivads, partner in Stamford-based Taylor Design, after the event.

"I'm not overly concerned about those issues (tax credits, grants and loans)," she said, adding that supporting affordable housing, education, infrastructure and transportation amid a budget crisis is her concern.

Lembo painted a dark picture of the state's budget situation as economic growth hovers around 1 to 2 percent.

"The next two years will be really rough," he said, noting the General Assembly simultaneously must grapple with issues like the state employee pension fund, which is woefully underfunded.